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Although this could very well be a picture of me finding a new treasure at a favorite nursery, it's actually an illustration by David Catrow for a children's book called Plantzilla.

Friday, June 19, 2015

The Garden of Cleo Raulerson

"I have an over-the-top metro garden with over 600 varieties of floweringplants, more than half of which are perennials." So begins Cleo Raulerson's description of her garden. Alsion, Emily, and I were greeted at the front of the garden by Cleo who, like her garden, has a joyous spirit and an easy laugh that makes visitors feel welcome.

"My goal is to have something in bloom every day of the year."

The garden features several wide concrete-edged, arch shaped lawns surrounded by mixed borders. Repetition of the shape of lawn adds continuity to the garden. About grass Cleo said, "I challenged several designers to come up with a ground cover that looks and feels like lawn but isn't and no one could come up with anything like it so we decided on grass."

So nice of Cleo to have the initial of my first name placed in her garden. :)

From this angle, the shape echo of the arbor is visible. Clever yes?

Going around the side of the house, following a nice aggregate concrete path. Notice the opuntia in the middle left of the picture. We'll revisit it on our way back up.

Great dry creek bed!

"My garden design includes mixed flower/shrub borders that compliment our 1960's mid-century modern house with its views of the Olympic Mountains, Seattle, and downtown Bellevue.

"I have gardened in this space since 1989, making major changes every 4-5 years. In 2011, I put in a new aggregate concrete patio and walkways, and expanded the garden beds to achieve a more cohesive and visually pleasing design."

Throughout Cleo's garden are hiding fun surprises.

From this angle, the patio seems to hover atop the rocks.

Cute birds! Is one of those the bluebird of happiness? Find them here.

The back lawn is a large oval, the connection of the two arches in the front or maybe the Raulerson's are alumni of the University of Oregon (Oklahoma, Ohio, Oberlin, Occidental.) Hopefully it doesn't mean that they have zero tolerance for stupid humor. Notice the stairs on the left as we'll go up them to get a cool view of the garden from above.

The juxtaposition of the formal shapes of lawn and the more informal exuberance of the plantings and water feature is quite interesting.

Purple and white in a shady walkway.

A closer view of the water feature from the floating patio. The fish are jumping (and the cotton is high) upstream.

Finally up the stairs for a bird's eye view of the back garden.

Lovely view of downtown Bellevue.

Emily and Alison admiring the glass fish.

Beautiful tapestry of shade tolerant plants having their moment in the sun.

Pretty and pleasant garden with the contrast of lawn to the abundance of flowers. Alison mentioned it is small but it lives big with all the interest there. Loved the house with the patio and pond all look like a Sunset Magazine feature. These tours are so much fun to follow.

What a beautiful property. Until I read the comments, I thought this was a big garden. A metal Opuntia is a safe Opuntia... I noticed Primrose blooming in a few spots; it's slowly but surely becoming a favorite plant of mine. The 'fiddle heads' peeking out of the Hosta add a subtle touch.

Really quite amazing! As you said (I think), the paths and beautifully defined lawn are such a great contrast to the opulence of the flower beds, rocks & water, etc. Makes ALL the features shine gloriously!

It was a fun space with surprises around every corner. Hard to believe that this was the first time they'd opened their garden. I didn't get a photo but Emily was thrilled with the profusion of Bletilla striata in one of the large front beds. Cleo said that she started with one plant and just kept separating and moving them around. It was pretty impressive.

What a great garden - she's really nailed the mid century aesthetic: those wide concrete edges harken the old kidney-shaped beds that were once so popular, but turn them inside out so that lawn isn't dominant.I really like the bold planting choices and how even the tallest plants look no more than about 15' -20' high....all in all, a very different sort of space!

About Me

Why Outlaw Gardener? I like to break the rules of good taste, plant placement, and plant hardiness. Also, I have received periodic "love notes" from the city code enforcement officer telling me that my parking strip plants encroach on the city's right-of-way. When expressing my distress over the latest such notice, I exclaimed to my pal Loree (Danger Garden) "I'm an outlaw gardener!" To which she replied,"That would be a good name for a blog."
My first gardens were in Southeast Alaska (zone 3.)I do miss the beauty and community of small-town Alaska but I don't take for granted for a moment how wonderful it is to garden in zone 8.